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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. current — of water
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a document
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. degree — from a university
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. chip — for betting
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. chip — to eat
  15. current — electric
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. shower — to wash
  18. current — happening now
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. degree — an amount
  22. shower — rain
  23. bark — to shout
  24. file — a tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com